POLS SHORTSIGHTED ON TOLLS Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz opposes tolls on the East River bridges because three of them-the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg-are in Brooklyn. "Many more Brooklyn residents drive to Manhattan than vice-versa," the beep said. "Bridge tolls would constitute an unfair new tax on Brooklynites, while Manhattan residents would get off nearly scot-free."

Numerous other Brooklyn pols are also lined up against the tolls, including Councilmembers Mike Nelson and Lew Fidler, State Senator Carl Kruger, and Assemblyman Felix Ortiz.

But the point of East River tolls-which could be collected without even slowing down vehicles, thanks to E-ZPass or smart-card technology now in use elsewhere-is less to raise revenue than to alleviate automobile congestion on the bridges and in Manhattan.

It would also reduce jam-ups on Flatbush Avenue, the primary vehicular artery to the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges for tens of thousands of motorists. Besides, do New Jersey politicians complain that tolls on the Hudson River crossings discriminate against their constituents? Markowitz even claims that tolls would reduce the number of visitors to Manhattan's cultural institutions. Can you imagine this conversation? "Honey, would you like to see the new exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art this weekend?" "No thanks, dear, I don't want to pay four bucks for the Brooklyn Bridge toll."

Didn't think so.

If anything, the reduction in bridge traffic would encourage more museum-goers (who typically can spare a few sheckles) to visit cultural institutions. The issue of bridge tolls was raised earlier this year by Mayor Mike Bloomberg, in large part to help close a $5-plus billion budget gap for the next fiscal year. At a May 24 lunch with Brooklyn reporters, Council Speaker Gifford Miller told us the proposal was still on the table. But he sounded unenthusiastic about the possibility, and noted, "There's a lot of opposition to it."

Miller disputed the notion that drivers would welcome the tolls as a time-saver, noting that many drivers opt for free crossings over less crowded toll crossings. But straphangers cannot choose free subways and buses. It is not clear why drivers should have such an option.

COUNCIL CLOSES DISCOUNT LEATHER SHOP City Councilmen Lew Fidler and Domenic Recchia were among the sponsors of a bill to stop outgoing council members from buying their $500 taxpayer-purchased leather chairs for $35. Mayor Mike Bloomberg signed the bill in May, raising the price of the chairs to "fair market value."

But the measure came too late to prevent 11 Brooklyn councilmembers from making off with their pricey chairs for mere pocket change as they left office last year. The chair-grabbers included Martin Malave-Dilan, Ken Fisher, Herb Berman, Una Clarke, Victor Robles, Priscilla Wooten, Michael Abel, Steve DiBrienza, Mary Pinkett, Annette Robinson, and, most shocking of all, Noach Dear.

For once, we have to give credit to the oft-ridiculed Lloyd Henry, who showed the good sense to not buy his chair upon leaving the council. "When the original law was written, no one expected there would be term limits and that over 30 members would leave office at one time," said City Council spokeswoman Lupé Todd.

But the law was ill-conceived in the first place. Taxpayers shouldn't have to subsidize the purchase of furniture for the personal use of former elected officials, whether it's 30 leather chairs or three footstools. That the departing councilmembers staged their leather-chair heist with a $5 billion budget deficit looming makes it all the more shameful. But they did provide yet another reason to like term limits.

BROOKLYN AIN'T MARGARITAVILLE, VITO SAYS Assemblyman Vito Lopez took exception to our suspicions about his given reason for opposing Civil Court Judge Margarita Lopez Torres for re-election this fall, which was that she hasn't been visible in the community during her 10-year term.

We weren't aware that community visibility is what party leaders, or anyone else, looks for in a judge. We thought the public looks for fairness and impartiality, while party officials support those who hire the law secretaries they put forward and perhaps send lucrative receiverships to chosen law firms.

To that end, some have suggested that the judge's refusal to repay Lopez for facilitating her 1992 election by hiring the law secretary he recommended was the primary reason for the animosity between them. Not so, Lopez said. "We don't go to court for patronage," said the assemblyman, speaking for his Bushwick United Democratic Club. "We don't want anything more than seeing our judges being around." Lopez Torres has failed to build a relationship with the community, Lopez said, and beyond that, "Wherever she goes she bad-mouths the district leaders, the party organization, and me."

Lopez Torres has suggested she's being punished for her independence. The question is, since she sought (or at least accepted) the political establishment's help to become a judge, shouldn't she at least put in some face time and mingle with party leaders at Democratic club functions? Answer: No, if she feels those are not the duties of a judge. Answer number two: Yes, if she would like the party's help in getting re-elected.

No doubt Assemblyman Lopez sees some hypocrisy in Lopez Torres's pronouncements that "judges must be independent from politicians" followed by expressions of dismay that the politicians are not endorsing her. Assemblyman Lopez, the most influential Democrat in northern Brooklyn, noted that the Kings County Democratic Party Executive Committee voted 35-1 against endorsing Lopez Torres on May 16. "I've never seen such a defeat," he said, adding, "It wasn't something people went around on the phone orchestrating."

The lone vote for Lopez Torres was cast by state Senator Nellie Santiago, who is facing a challenge for her seat from former City Councilman Marty Malave-Dilan. "I will be supporting Marty Dilan," Assemblyman Lopez said. Why not back the incumbent Democrat, as is the party's custom? "We haven't had a relationship for five or six years," Lopez said of Santiago. "She has passed four bills in 10 years. She is never in the community."

RING THE GONG FOR MARKOWITZ What was Borough President Marty Markowitz doing hosting an event at Borough Hall for the Falun Gong people? The group is no mere yoga club. It is, by many accounts, a cult-the kind that takes in susceptible young people, prompting their parents to seek expert help to extricate them.

Public recognition by elected officials only gives the cult the credibility it needs to attract more members. "Almost everybody who studies cults feels it's a cult," one cult expert told the Daily News.

Markowitz denies that the Moonies, Hare Krishnas, and Branch Davidians have booked Borough Hall for the next three weekends.

MEN BEHAVING BADLY Rep. Jerry Nadler called on Republicans to donate whatever money they raise by selling a September 11 photo of President Bush to a victims' fund. The congressman, who represents Coney Island and Borough Park, as well as the World Trade Center site, got the press coverage he was looking for, but it included a sharp rebuke from the GOP. Carl Forti, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, called it a "cheap political ploy by the Democrats" and "pure grandstanding by Mr. Nadler."

The Dems say the GOP is trying to profit off of September 11 by offering the photo in exchange for campaign contributions. Both parties would seem to have a point.

NUCLEAR WASTE VOTE After years of study and debate, Congress is finally answering the question of whether spent fuel rods from America's nuclear power plants will be stored under Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Currently the nuclear waste - which will be highly radioactive for tens of thousands of years - is being held in temporary storage facilities at the plants themselves.

The House passed the bill on May 8. Republicans were nearly unanimous in their support (voting 203-13 in favor) but Democrats were split, 102 for and 103 against. Among Brooklyn representatives, Democrat Ed Towns and Republican Vito Fossella supported the bill, while Democrats Anthony Weiner, Major Owens, and Nydia Velazquez voted against it. Jerry Nadler did not vote. The issue is a tricky one. Undoubtedly it would be safer to bury the waste far underground, but that does involve transporting it by truck, rail, or barge across 44 states, which critics claim would make it vulnerable to terrorist attack or accident.

And even the Yucca Mountain repository wouldn't be ideal given the possibility of underground earthquakes and the likelihood that our "keep out" signs won't be understood by whoever inhabits the planet 10,000 years from now. Of course, it is possible that Towns will be out of office by then.

TRUTH AND FICTION Once upon a time, a prosecutor on Brooklyn District Attorney Joe Hynes's staff wrote a fairy tale about a Brooklyn D.A. whose office was riddled by office politics. Actually it was a novel. The D.A. it depicted was indeed fictional, but according to the author, Rob Rueland, it still hit a little close too home for Hynes, who promptly demoted him. Rueland says when he complained, he was fired.

Did Hynes forget the first rule of law? That is, if you fire a lawyer, expect him to sue. That's exactly what Rueland did, on the grounds that Hynes violated his free speech rights.

A federal judge recently slapped down a motion by Hynes to dismiss the suit. The city is representing Hynes. If you're wondering whether taxpayers will have to write out a check if Hynes loses, the answer is yes. We asked Hynes to comment, but he declined.

BROOKLYN BATTING .125 Only one of the first eight members appointed to the City Council redistricting panel hails from the city's most populous borough, but according to Lew Fidler, head of Brooklyn's council delegation, that's simply a function of the process.

Council Speaker Gifford Miller was obligated to pick one nominee from each borough, while Council Minority Leader James Oddo (R-Staten Island) was not. Oddo tapped Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island for his three choices. The seven remaining appointments will be made by the mayor.

Even if Brooklyn winds up underrepresented on the panel, which is likely, it would not result in the borough being shortchanged in its number of council seats, which are determined by population. New district lines will be drawn later this year. "I don't believe the number of seats in Brooklyn will be changing," said Councilman Fidler, who lives just two blocks from his district's border. "If it is, that changes everything."

Brooklyn would only lose a seat if census data showed it lost population compared to the other boroughs. Brooklyn's lone panel member so far is John Flateau, director of CUNY's Census Information Center.

Borough Politics Archive

2002
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2001
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2000
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1999
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